VZCZCXRO3668
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #2397 3470914
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130914Z DEC 06
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5570
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 032397 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, DAS LEVINE 
PACOM FOR FPA 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD ECON BEXP CH
SUBJECT: Guangzhou CCPIT Told by Beijing to Increase U.S. Exports to 
China 
 
REF: Guangzhou 31300 
 
(U) This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please handle 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: In a December 11 meeting with the 
Foreign Commercial Service section, the President of the Guangzhou 
office of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade 
(CCPIT) said that he had been ordered by Beijing to formulate a 
plan, due on the first week of January 2007, to increase domestic 
purchases of U.S. goods.  This initiative seems to be national in 
scope and suggests China is seeking ways to reduce China its trade 
surplus with the United States.  END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
Under Orders to Increase U.S. Imports 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Guangzhou CCPIT President Weng Wenxiang - accompanied by 15 
representatives from companies, industry associations, and the city 
government in environmental, energy, logistics, high-tech, medicine, 
garment, and textile industries - told FCS December 11 that he had 
ordered by his CCPIT superiors to increase exports from the United 
States to Guangzhou.  The central government has informed local 
CCPITs that the current U.S.-China trade imbalance is "not 
acceptable."  Weng added that he has been told to submit a report to 
Beijing during the first week of January 2007 detailing specific 
steps taken by his office to increase U.S. exports.  The October 
decision by the central government to change the name of the Canton 
Export Commodities Fair to the Canton Import and Export Commodities 
Fair was part of this initiative (reftel). 
 
What Chinese Industry Wants 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Specifically, Chinese industry is asking for the following: 
 
- A representative from a local garment industry association said 
Chinese garment manufacturers are trying to upgrade their operations 
and raise industry standards; an increase in high-end U.S. clothing 
available in China would assist in this transition. 
- A representative from a textile industry association expressed 
interest in purchasing manufacturing machinery from the United 
States. 
- A medical industry representative told us that U.S. companies can 
help China upgrade its health care system, particularly with the 
growth of specialty hospitals. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Post's FCS officer encouraged the representatives to 
contact U.S. industry associations and utilize the Department of 
Commerce's Trade Leads bulletin board network to locate U.S. 
suppliers.  Some of the representatives will return to FCS during 
the week of December 18 for one-on-one discussions. 
 
Xiamen CCPIT Office Has Similar Effort 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Representatives from the Xiamen CCPIT informed FCS in late 
November that they sought to locate between USD 5 million and USD 10 
million of U.S. fruit and wine for purchase by domestic buyers. 
During discussions with FCS and Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) 
officers, the representatives said the central-level CCPIT had 
ordered the initiative. 
 
GOLDBERG